Scoop scale



AP 9, 1940 J. c. L. THORNHILL Er AL 2,196,280

SCOOP SCALE Filed Oct. 22, 1938 d ee War/7h# ed /Vt crac/(en lN'vENToRs BY W ATT E Patented Apr. 9, 1940 SCOOP SCALE J. C. Lee Thornhill, Uniontown, Ala., and Fred McCracken, Cincinnati, Ohio, said McCracken assignor to said Thornhill Application October 22, 1938, Serial No. 236,422

1 claim.

The present invention relates to a scoop scale, or a. scoop structure having a weighing means incorporated therein.

An object of the invention is to provide adevice of the character stated, which includes a novel arrangement of elements whereby accuracy of the weighing means is assured, in practical usage.

Another object is to provide a scoop scale structure of simplified construction, and one which may be manufactured vat a minimum cost while at the same time preserving the accuracy thereof. s

Another object is to provide a scoop scale of pleasing design and proportions, and which is so constructed as to facilitate reading of the scale or weight indicator thereof.

A further object is to provide durable and eiective mechanism, in' a scoop scale, which will give uninterrupted long-lived and trouble-free service.

'I'he foregoing and other objects are attained by the means described herein'and disclosed in the accompanying drawing, in which:v

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the device of the invention, part being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, of the weighing apparatus contained in the scoop handle of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevational View of an adjusting means, which forms a detail of the invention.

With reference to the accompanying drawing, 4 indicates a scoop or other container, and 5 indicates the handle thereof. The handle of the device has a free lower end provided with a base of any suitable character, whereby the scoop scale of the invention may be placed on end in an upright position. By way of example, the base may comprise a plate Ii screwed or otherwise secured to the handle 5 as at 1. If desired, the base may be provided with suitable legs or supporting means 8. The number of legs employed may be three or more.'

By employing a suitable coupling means 9, the

' scoop may be mounted upon a post or the like I0 having connection with a weighing means housed within the hollow handle 5. Exteriorly of the handle, there is provided an indicator I2 adapted to move over an accurate dial I3 for the pur- I pose of indicating the weight of any contents that may be held within the scoop 4.

The weighing means preferably is a unitary structure completely separable from the handle by merely removing the screws or other fastening devices I4, so that the weighing means is instantly interchangeable with others, in scoop scalestructures of the character disclosed.

The weighing means or apparatus may comprise a stationary plate I5 and a relatively movable plate I6, arranged substantially parallel to one another in a vertical plane. The plates may be furnished with sets of perforate lugs I'I and I8 along opposite sides thereof, whereby the plates may be joined for relative movement in substantial parallelism, by means of link structures indicated at I9 and 20.

The link structure 2Il comprises a pair of spaced parallel links connected together by means of a strut 2l, said links having opposed apertured ends 22 and 23 perforated to receive the shafts 24 and 25 which extend through the apertures of the pairs of perforated lugs II and I8 near the lower end of the weighing apparatus; likewise, the link structure I9 at the upper end of the weighing apparatus, comprises a pair of links 26 and 2'! maintained in spaced parallel relationship by means of the strut or connector 28. The ends of the links 26 and 21 are perforated so as to receive the shafts 29 and 30 which pass through the perforate lugs I1 and I8. By means of the link structures just described, plates I5 and I6 may be moved relatively inA opposite directions, while maintaining a parallel relationship.

Near the upper end of the movable plate I6, means are provided for supporting the upright post I0. Said means may be in the form of an extension 3| overhanging the link structure I9 and to which extension the lower end of post III is rigidly fixed. The post may be furnished with any suitable means, such as a stop 32, for limiting upward movement of post III through the enlarged aperture 33 of the handle, when the scoop is empty. The nature of the stop 32 is immaterial to the invention. Downward movement of post I0 may be limited by contact of the coupling device 9 upon upper end of handle 5, and to this extent the coupling device 9 may be considered a stop or abutment.

The stationary plate I5 is provided with a suitable extension 34 arranged to support the upper end 35 of a spring 36, the opposite end 31 of which may be suitably anchored to the movable plate I6 or any part movable with said plate. As herein disclosed, the lower end of the spring is joined with the movable plate through an adjusting means, whereby the spring tension may be varied in order to provide for compensation thereof with the indicator.

Although the adjusting means for the spring may assume one of many structural designs, there is illustrated by way of example an adjusting means which comprises a cross-piece 38 having opposed perforate ears 39 and 46, through which ears the shaft 24 of plate I6 may extend. At a point substantially centrally of the crosspiece, an aperture 4I may be provided as a bearing in which the screw 42 may be rotated, preferably by means of a iinger piece or other actuating member 43. A spring seat member M tlireadedly engages the screw 42 and preferably is xed to the lower end 31 of the spring, so that said seat member afl may not rotate with the screw when the actuator 43 is turned to the various positions of adjustment. The seat member may be attached to the spring by bending the radial arms of said member about an adjacent coil of the spring, it being understood, however, that other forms of attachment may be resorted to if desired.

By means of the arrangement just described, the movable plate I6 is yieldingly maintained in an elevated position relative to the stationary plate l5. The spring, of course, is properly designed so that various degrees of tension thereof will be proportionate to the weight of the ccntents of the scoop or container 4.

The upper link structure i9, rather than the lower one 23., carries ineens for actuating the indicator i Z and movingr it across the calibrated dial i3, which dial is iixed relative to the handle 5. Said means be in the form of a gear segment t5 which is fixed by riveting, welding, or otherwise to one of the links such as 2E. The segment is a opted to mesh with a pinion 15E ivhi (ed on the shaft il? of the indicator l2. As is evident. the shaft 4? extends through the handle to the interior thereof, where the pinicv is fixed therC "o in position to be engaged by :c it 45. P. g a weight in the scoop 4 obviously will result in lowering the post i0 and platov l? in opposition to the force of the spring thereby ca*L sing the gear segment 45 to rotate aber.' its center, which is shaft 3Q, thereby resulting in rotation of pinion 4S in a clock-wise direction for advancing the indicator l2 over the calibrated dial The weight of the scoop con,- tents is thereby rendered visible exteriorly of the scoop scale handle 5.

Attention is directed particularly to the fact that the post moves in conformity with the scoop. and relatively to the handle, without having a sliding connection or bearing where the post enters the handle. The reason for eliminating all such sliding bearings to avoid inaccuracies which would result if the handle were not disposed at exact perpendicular during the weighing operation. For this reason, the opening 33 at the upper end of the handle made quite large in comparison with the diameter of post l0. To fui .lier preserve the accuracy of the weighing apparatus, the various shafts 24, 25, 29 and 3B are of small diameter or, are otherwise adapted to reduce to a minimum. any friction at the link structures, By reason oi the construction herein disclosed, the apparatus will function accurately even though the scoop scale be placed upright upon a surface which is not exactly horizontal. es a matter or fact, any surface which, in the judgment of the user, is apparently horiaontal or substantially so, is sufficiently close to being h' rizontal to ensure accuracy in the weighing function of the device. This is not true of any scoop scale wherein the post l0 might have sliding connection with. the handle, as a bearing.

A rath er simple means of mounting the weighingr met nism within the scoop handle 5 is illustrat-ed in Fig. 2, wherein 4S and 49 indicate angular lugs struck from the material of plate I5, and provided with threaded bores 5l! for reception of the screws I4 o1" Fig. l. By merely detaching the coupling means 9 from post l0 and removing the screws i4, the entire weighiner mechanism is detachable as a unit, and may be removed from the handle 5 after detaching the base plate 6. The weighing mechanisms are thereby rendered interchangeable in different scoop structures, and may he easily replaced or serviced when necessary. It should be noted that removal and replacement of the weighing mechanism requires no disturbance oi the indicator and its shaft and pinion Wherefore those parts remain connected with the handle at all times, unless replacement thereof is deemed necessary or desirable.

The scoop may carry suitable lines, ribs or other indicia 5| whereby a user of the device may be apprised of the approximate amount of material contained within the scoop, prior to setting the device on end to perform the weighing function. Scoops 4 of varying shapes and sizes may be supplied as they are detachable from the post I0, although it is preferable that all such substitute scoops be of the same weight in order to avoid the need for adjusting the spring tension. It may here be stated that the particular configuration of the base plate 6 at the lower end of the handle, is immaterial to the invention so long as it furnishes a hase of sulcient Weight or stability to maintain the upright position of the scoop scale during the weighing operation. As will readily be evident the base plate may be in the form of a simple dat sheet, or of a bell shaped annular construction, if desired, and means other than that disclosed herein may be employed for detachably securing the base plate to the handle.

Various other modifications and changes in the structural details of the device may be made, within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of the invention` What is claimed is:

In a device of the class described` the combination of a scoop, a hollow elongated handle for the scoop having an apertured upper end, and a lower end, means at the lower end of the handle for .supporting the handle in upright position upon a surface, a plate detachahly iixed inside the handle in parallelism with the handle axis, a set of perforated lugs on the plate and arranged in upper and lower pairs at opposite sides of the plate, a movable plate within the handle, and including upper and lower pairs of perforate lugs correspending with the lugs of the fixed plate, shafts extending loosely through the apertures of each pair of lugs of each plate, and spanning said plates, an upper link structure comprising a pair of parallel opposed links each having perforated ends for loose reception of an upper lug supported shaft of each plate, means rigidly connecting the opposed links to preclude relative movement thereof, a lower link structure of like character mounted upon the lower lug supported shaft of each plate, a spring yieldingly urging the movable plate always toward the upper apcrtured end of the handle, a post xed to said movable plate and extending upwardly therefrom in the direction of plate movement, and through the handle aperture, said post being of such size as to pass through the handle aperture without Contact against the aperture wall, means mounting the scoop upon the post in upright position thc-xeon, and means actuated by the movement of the plate to indicate the weight of the scoop contents.

J. C. LEE THORNHILL. FRED MCCRACKEN. 

